Greatness can tiptoe in and out of the ball park without us even seeing.

Sometimes.

Other times the greatness is glaring and the spotlight shines on future stars so brightly that no one can miss it.

But it is there, slow dancing in and out in the grind of a long baseball season. Sometimes, if we are truly lucky, the greatness is with the home team and we can watch an entire season. Sometimes, if we are lucky enough, it can slip in during a four-game series. So we still get to serve as witness.

This game, these boys of summer who get the joy of playing a little boy's game for years into adulthood, amaze us at times. Perhaps nothing in all of sports is more difficult than hitting a baseball ... at least, the way pitchers these days throw a baseball.

El Paso Chihuahua fans who pushed through the turnstiles at scenic Southwest University Park Thursday night saw something pretty great. Dinelson Lamet, a 24-year-old from the Dominican Republic, was absolutely masterful. The big right-hander was great. Time will tell if that develops, if those fans there Thursday night truly caught a glimpse of greatness ... or just a great night.

Tony Gwynn, Padres -- Aug. 6, 1999.(Photo: Denis Poroy, AP)

Greatness has waltzed through this old city for longer than we can remember. A young Mickey Mantle came in with the Yankees in the 1950s. Hall of Fame player and person Tony Gwynn came through here twice. He played for San Diego State when they met UTEP at Blackie Chesher Park in East El Paso in the spring of his final season. Base hits rained from his bat. By August, Gwynn was up with San Diego's Double A team in Amarillo and he brought his spotlight act to Dudley Field. Again, base hits rained from his bat.

They have come along, quietly slipping in and out of the city. Some remember the blistering home run Darryl Strawberry ripped over the big green center field fence at Dudley Field. Some remember pitchers like Fernando Valenzuela and Orel Hershiser looking like every other shell-shocked pitcher who tried to work in old Dudley. It was such a band box, a beautiful old tiny park with no power alleys and rarified desert air. If you could pitch well at Dudley, you could probably pitch in the majors.

Sometimes the greatness did not follow. And sometimes the greatness turned out to be only good. But that was OK, too.

El Paso Diablo manager Tim Ireland once said, "Johnny Damon is the best player I've seen at this level." Damon was a joy to watch. He had a very good Major League career. Not great. But good. Australian catcher Dave Nilsson hit over .400 for most of his season in El Paso. He had a good Major League run. Not great. But good.

Chihuahua fans got to watch a trio of gifted young players last year ... a trio of young men who are now everyday players for the Padres. Right fielder Hunter Renfroe, center fielder Manuel Margot and catcher Austin Hedges thrilled El Paso fans all season, thrilled them all the way to a Pacific Coast League championship. Only time will tell where those three and current Chihuahuas like Carlos Asuaje and Lamet and others will fall on the meter.

There have been so many, teetering along that imaginary line between near-good, good, near-great and great. And they are all fun to watch.

It is all part of the joy of minor league baseball. It is a part of the game within the game.

These young men play the game to win. It is part of the learning process — simply getting used to winning, learning how to win. But sometimes, just sometimes — like watching Lamet strike out 13 in five-and-a-third innings Thursday — that show within the show is worth the price of admission.

The greatness has come and will continue to come ... tip-toeing in like ghosts of legends past and present ... perhaps one day becoming their own legends.

Diablos catcher Eddy Rodriguez came to the US on a boat with his family when he was eight-years-old. He's now a US citizen and plays for the El Paso Diablos. Mark Lambie/El Paso Times
MARK LAMBIE/EL PASO TIMES

Jeromy Flores runs the bases as the Diablos Chicken attempts to catch with Flores during one of several audience participation events. Flores anmd several thousand other school children from various are schools took the El Paso Diablos season opener at Cohen Stadium as part of the schools field trip. The Diablos opened the season agianst the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks. Ruben R Ramirez/El Paso Times
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